I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President, by Josh Lieb

True to the billing, this book is about an underage evil genius seeking election in school office.  The twist is that he is attempting to do so while concealing his intellect, so as not to blow his cover as the 3rd richest person in the world.  To his classmates, parents, and all but a few of his most trusted employees, Oliver comes across about as smart as a happy cow.  Behind the scenes he is cruel, narcissistic, and ruthless in his pursuits.

Everything about the story is over-the-top.  The boy began his evil plotting in early infancy.  He trained his dog to answer dozens of ridiculously specific commands spoken only in Basque.  He overthrows dictators for Star Wars toys.  If it weren't so unbelievable I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much as I did.  There is no option except to suspend disbelief and go along for the ride.  Josh Lieb's book is a good read for those who are tired of the usual teen fantasies and problem novels.  It's good curmudgeonry and fine escapism.

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things, by Lenore Look

Alvin Ho is utterly charming.  Funny, sweet, and touching; it's a rare book that inspires so much affection in me.   LeUyen Pham's simple but emotive line drawings accentuate the text wonderfully.  I'm thrilled to see that Look & Pham have collaborated on another two Alvin Ho books after this one.

Alvin is a superhero and aspiring gentleman at home, but has never spoken a single word in school.  This has not helped him gain any friends, at least not the kind he wants.  Flea, a girl with a cool pirate eye-patch, has not figured out that he is "allergic" to girls, and gaily translates his terrified facial expressions for their teachers.  She is a fantastic character herself, brave, tough and loyal.  I'm hoping to see more of her in the next books.  Alvin fumbles through home and school life, learning through painfully funny accidents and misunderstandings.  Throughout it all, his parents are there to sort him out, calm him down, and set him straight.

I'd recommend this book to shy children, brave children, and everyone else.  In my city, it's a bonus that the protagonist is asian-american, particularly when the book doesn't make a big deal out it.  Children's literature needs more books like this.

The Spiderwick Chronicles, by Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black

Last year I thoroughly enjoyed reading Holly Black's dark and gritty teen fiction, so in my push to read more children's novels I picked up all five books in The Spiderwick Chronicles.  I didn't have terribly high expectations as they have the look of a publisher-commissioned series, but I was proven delightfully wrong.

The plot components are familiar: parents divorce; children are unhappy at moving; old house is a little creepy; strange events happen; children are blamed; children discover truth but don't tell adults; children brave adventures; children are victorious; parent apologizes for disbelief.

I get a little bored when I'm fairly sure I know how a book/series will play out, but there was enough that was new or interesting to keep me reading these.  More importantly, there's plenty to keep young readers engaged.  The Spiderwick Chronicles is written for children who are just starting to read novels, but are capable of tackling stories a step beyond the series fiction I was looking at earlier this month.  Each book has a familiar narrative arc and is short enough that it shouldn't intimidate readers, but doesn't scrimp on the rare words.
 
I've been wondering whether Spiderwick was conceived as a single novel or as a series.  My inner cynic suspected the publisher chose this format to increase book sales or to compete with A Series of Unfortunate Events.  Whatever the case, it works as it is.  Older readers may gobble up all five novels at once, while younger readers can work through one at a time.

American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

I'm fascinated and impressed by authors who write broadly.  In my library we have Neil Gaiman titles in our picturebooks, early chapter books, children's fiction, teen fiction, adult fiction, and graphic novel collections.  I've worked my way through most of it, but have neglected some of his better known grown-up novels along the way.  

Last week I read American Gods, which has the calm, slow, winding kind of narrative that Gaiman readers may be accustomed to.  When Shadow is released from prison, he is recruited to work for a man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday.  Shadow fumbles along and discovers that Wednesday and his acquaintances are supernatural beings.  He can accept this, but it takes the whole novel for him to unravel what is happening behind the scenes, what his part is, and what he wants it to be.  Themes explored include identity, sacrifice, home, what it means to live and to die, and what it means to choose between the two.  

It's a pleasant read, but I'm far fonder of The Sandman and The Graveyard Book among Gaiman's works.

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison

The first in a popular ongoing series (now up to ten titles), it was long past time I gave this one a try.  It's outside of my usual literary repertoire, as I don't read many humorous books, particularly high-school girl humour.  As a geeky tomboy type, they usually don't mesh with my own experiences at that age.

Written as the diary of fourteen year old Georgia Nicholson, this novel is packed with hyperbole and minor personal crises.  Georgia is snide, hypocritical, myopically self-centred, and casually cruel towards the feelings of friends, classmates, and romantic rivals.  She takes everything far too seriously, particularly when boys are involved, and feels eternally abused by her parents. 

This is all to say, she's very much a fourteen year old girl.  The end result is a hilarious and occasionally painful read.  I couldn't stop thinking about how awful it would be to be some of this girl's classmates, let alone her parents, but the book has undeniable charm.  Teen readers may see a reflection of their own emotional lives, pushed up to a level of ridiculousness that they can laugh at and gain a little catharsis from.

The Recently Deflowered Girl, by Hyacinthe Phypps & Edward Gorey

This has been my week of humorous books.  The Recently Deflowered Girl: The Right Thing to Say on Every Dubious Occasion appeared on my shelf of newly arrived books for teens.  I'm not sure why it was catalogued in teen rather than adult, but it would be popular in either.  It's a tongue-in-cheek etiquette guide describing twenty scenarios of deflowerment, followed by Miss Hyacinthe Phypps' brief and useless advice on the matter.  Edward Gorey's expressive and funny victorian-esque drawings tell half the story.  I'd read it just for them.

Miss Laney is Zany! by Dan Gutman

I'm continuing my research into currently popular children's fiction series.  Dan Gutman's My Weird School is among the most frequently requested by the elementary set.   This particular book had a silly straight-forward plot, some great wordplay, and kids who can get the better of adults.  After reading it, I'm not surprised it's popular, particularly among the boys.  The characters are all wacky, gripe about the usual school headaches and traumas, and they even get to say jerky things now and then.   I suspect that the books are formulaic (as is much of series fiction), but that can be helpful to new readers.  Anything that excites a new reader to pick up one book after another is fine by me.

Fail Nation, by failblog.org

A number of blogs are expanding on their web success by putting some of their best posts in print.  Failblog, at its strongest, is riotously funny, drawing attention to false advertising, inopportune spelling errors, unintended double entendres, contradictions, poor decisions, and bad luck. 

Fail Nation is a little more than a reprint of the blog.  It’s written as a travelguide to the fictional Fail Nation and is organized into sections such as what to see and where to stay.  The commentary added for the book doesn't always contribute much, but I got a few good giggles out of the whole thing.